1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to integrated circuits, and more specifically, to degradation monitoring within an integrated circuit.
2. Related Art
As an integrated circuit ages, the integration circuit experiences circuit degradation which causes delay margins of the digital circuits to decrease over time. Circuit degradation may occur due to various physical phenomena which may result in slowing down transistors and interconnects over time, such as, for example, negative bias temperature instability (NBTI), positive bias temperature instability (PBTI), hot carrier injection, and electromigration. As the integrated circuit continues to age, the delay margins can continue decreasing to the point at which delay faults occur. These delay faults result in catastrophic failure of the integrated circuit without warning.